Friday, January 29, 2010

It is one of those absolutely beautiful Minnesota winter days. The sun is up in all its glory with blue sky and birds singing. The only down side is that it is below 0 Fahrenheit outside. But, I will take it. And as you can see...the dogs love it! (Cocoa - Josh's dog, Honda, Max, and Tanner - my dog)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Lots of moving...Moving...Moving...Moving far from home...Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course.Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house;Moving curtains that won't fit;Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.Moving away from friends;Moving toward new friends;Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting...Waiting...Waiting...Waiting for housing.Waiting for orders.Waiting for deployments.Waiting for phone calls.Waiting for reunions.Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.Waiting for him to come home,For dinner...AGAIN!

They call her 'Military Dependent',but she knows better:She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a check book;Handle the yard work;Fix a noisy toilet;Bury the family pet...She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.She can file the taxes;Sell a house;Buy a car;Or set up a move........all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.She reinvents her career with every PCS;Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, Or the deep south.And learns to call them all 'home'.She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty...They leap into:Decorating,Leadership,Volunteering,Career alternatives,Churches,And friendships.They don't have 15 years to get to know people.Their roots are short but flexible.They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:They connect over coffee,Rely on the spouse network,Accept offers of friendship and favors.Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond:The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands;his commitment is unique.He doesn't have a 'JOB'He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...He's on-call for his country 24/7.But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!His language is foreignTDYPCSOPRSOSACCBDUACUBARCIBTADAnd so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.She is the long- distance link to keep them informed; the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments:She wants to wring his neck;Dye his uniform pink;Refuse to move to Siberia;But she pulls herself together.Give her a few days,A travel brochure,A long hot bath,A pledge to the flag,A wedding picture,And she goes.She packs.She moves.She follows.

Why?What for?How come?You may think it is because she has lost her mind.But actually it is because she has lost her heart .It was stolen from her by a man,Who puts duty first,Who longs to deploy,Who salutes the flag,And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband,She will remain his military wife.And would have it no other way.--Author Unknown

Saturday, January 23, 2010

You all know me pretty well by now and know that I would never say anything about the money that David and I give away to boast. I do however have to share with you a major God moment that just happened today.

Over the last couple of months David and I have been doing well financially. I am not working as you all know, so cannot complain one bit. The Navy has been good to us and we have been able to work on our loans and savings while David has been gone. This month, however, has been a little…how would I put it…difficult. The warranty on our Pontiac was due to be renewed and even though I really didn’t want to dish out the money, I knew that when David told me to renew it was the best plan. Especially since the car just hit 50,000 miles. With a sigh of disappointment I transferred a huge chunk of money that I have been faithfully putting away into savings to pay for the warranty. Then there are the normal expenses that come with living. I was starting to get nervous and didn’t like that money kept leaving our bank account so that our bills would be paid. I gave our tithe for the second pay check of the month knowing that God’s economy runs completely different than ours. But, I could feel my hands getting a little tighter around the money that we had so carefully saved up. I was constantly checking our bank account to make sure that we were “ok.”

Then earlier this week some dear friends of our found themselves in a financial pinch. I wrote to David asking him to pray for them and he wrote me back telling me, “give them the money.” I wrote him back and asked “all of it?” “are you sure?” “we can give our tithe for next month early.” All the while thinking in my head “David, have you even seen our bank account this month!?!?!?!!?” He wrote me back and told me “Kristi, we have the money, we are just fine and they need it more than we do. If we have the money, give it to them.” So I went to the bank, pulled out the money and did as I was told. My grip got a little tighter on the money we had left.Today is the 23rd of the month. The dreaded day!!! It is the 23rd of each month that we have yet another major chunk of money slip out of our account. I woke up this morning and check out account right away thinking to myself, “are we going to be ok, ARE WE GOING TO BE OK????” Seriously Kristi, you should know better by now. GOD ALWAYS POVIDES!!! Of course our account was ok. But, here is the part that I set out from the beginning to tell you all. I had my grip on our money so tight and should have known God has a lesson in it for me. For some reason I had a couple extra babysitting jobs this week and was paid well, so I went to bed last night knowing that I would be able to pay the car registration fee. Then the mail came this morning and a check that I have been waiting to come for the last 4 months came today (I did some translating last fall and since the check hadn’t come I knew that God was saving it for when we would really need it…guess what He did!). I ran to the kitchen showing it to my mom in disbelief. God is good! Then I went back to my room opened another piece of mail fully expecting junk mail and it was another check for a reimbursement. This time I walked out to the kitchen to show my mom with tears in my eyes. God really is good!

Let me tell you, adding up the checks as I went to deposit them the total came just about to what David and I gave this month to our friends. You have to love the way God works! And, I learned my lesson. It isn’t my money, it is God’s money that He has entrusted to us, and so Kristi… loosen your grip already!

Proverbs 30: 7-9"Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

About Me

Who are we...two madly in love individuals who are trying to keep up with the wonderful blogs that my sister-in-laws have. We finally joined the group and have a two handsome boys that keeps us on our toes. Now we get to use our blog to keep you up to date on not only our crazy Navy life, but our very busy and sweet little men.